11-10-2015, 10:38 PM
(22-09-2015, 07:13 PM)greengiraffe Wrote: [ -> ]Healthy slowdown lah not a collapse that what many doomist are portraying...(21-09-2015, 09:41 PM)greengiraffe Wrote: [ -> ]time is ripe for correction...Wah if only buy lotteries oso so accurate...
make no mistake it is not a crash...
Sydney, Melbourne flip to 'buyer's market' not a bloodbath
- Sep 22 2015 at 6:40 PM
- Updated 1 hr ago
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[img=620x0]http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/j/q/e/r/m/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gjs7l6.png/1442913645015.jpg[/img]Whether there will be a "bloodbath" this Super Saturday, it will depend on the suburb. Cole Bennetts
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by Su-Lin Tan
Falling auction clearance rates may be spooking the Sydney and Melbourne markets as the first big spring Saturday approaches but experts say buyers and sellers should "take things into perspective".
Leading valuer Herron Todd White said while rates are falling there are also more properties on the market this year compared to last year. Suburbs, which do not usually go to auction, have had lower clearance rates and could be skewing the overall city clearance.
"Places in southwest Sydney, Canterbury, Bankstown have record numbers going to auction this time compared to last year. In Blacktown and Bankstown there are many people looking to capitalise on the supply and demand issue," Herron Todd White's Sydney residential director Kim Quick said.
Sydney's western suburbs of Lidcome, Blacktown and Revesby recorded some of the lowest clearance rates last week below 60 per cent. Smithfield was at 50 per cent, Hurstville at 46 per cent and Greystanes at 30 per cent.
Castle Hill and Baulkham Hills were around the 60 per cent mark.
Ms Quick said the cost of auctions normally deter sellers in these areas, but they are jumping on the auction bandwagon this time around.
"We also see a lot of activity in the Hills which has the combination of the Northwest rail link and the sale of amalgamated blocks on the back of rising land value," she said.
"Vendor expectations are becoming unrealisitic … some people are getting mixed up with old and new … there are properties [that] will go to auction when 12 months ago they [would]never get to an auction."
Domain Group's senior economist also agreed some of the lower clearance suburbs could be skewing the overall clearance rate but said he has seen softening even in the top suburbs.
"The consistency of the lower clearance rates is hard to ignore," he said.
"It's a coincidence that we are seeing lower investor numbers but all the suburbs are recording lower clearance rates. In May we were touching 90 per cent. Now a low 80 is a top performer."
There are also more properties being sold this spring versus last year.
About 1000 properties are due to go on the market this weekend.
Expected September auction listings in Sydney are higher at 4858 and Melbourne at 4933 compared to last year's 3223 and 3262 respectively, according to Corelogic RP Data.
Whether there will be a "bloodbath" this Super Saturday, will depend on the suburb.
"It will be very location specific. Properties in areas where buyers and sellers are both educated and who know the competition are will be fine," Ms Quick said.
"It also depends how many units do go up in one suburb. Overall, we are not seeing any slowdown in mortgages when we do our valuations."
Dr Wilson said 70 to 80 per cent are still good rates for spring.
"It is when you get to below 70 per cent then it's really a buyer's market."
Hot property: Going, but heat not quite gone from home market
- THE AUSTRALIAN
- OCTOBER 12, 2015 12:00AM
Greg Brown
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Property Reporter
Sydney
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Auctioneer Phillip Kingston from Gary Peer Realestate, works the crowd in Caulfield.Source: News Corp Australia
[b]Strength in the Sydney and Melbourne housing markets held up at the weekend despite expectations of another downturn, with more than 1700 homes sold at auction[/b]
Sydney had an October record of 1141 auctions last week, with clearance rates of 72.8 per cent, according to CoreLogic RP Data.
Melbourne had 1358 auctions, 74 per cent finding a buyer.
Both cities — the only mature auction markets in Australia — were busy for this time of year, but analysts say the trend is still towards a slower market. “This is not a market that is collapsing, this is a market that is steadying and probably steadying a bit in terms of price growth,” Robert Mellor, managing director of forecaster BIS Shrapnel, said. “Demand is holding up at a healthy level, but its not as spectacular as it was.”
It comes as the big banks, and even some offshore banks, substantially tighten lending to property investors in a move expected to slow the blistering pace of house price growth in Australia’s two biggest cities.
Melbourne auctioneer Phillip Kingston of Gary Peer Real Estate yesterday worked the crowd in Melbourne’s Caulfield, the south-eastern property going unsold.
Agency owner Gary Peer said it was the only property of four auctioned by his company yesterday that did not sell. “It’s not as frenetic as it was a month or two ago, but it’s still very strong,” Mr Peer said. “I think that the prices have stopped going up. I think that its settled down.”
While Sydney registered its highest ever October weekend, Melbourne produced a record for this time of the year.
At the same time last year, Sydney held 918 auctions at a clearance rate of 71.9 per cent while 70 per cent of the 1123 auctions were cleared in Melbourne.
Australian Property Monitors senior economist Andrew Wilson said the results were better than expected, but added it may be a sign vendors were willing to sell at a lower premium than earlier in the year. “If ever the market was going to shift backwards then it would have last week with these record numbers. It certainly did hold the line, whether that’s sellers becoming more realistic about taking offers, that could be part of the energy,” Dr Wilson said.
A two-tier market was emerging in Sydney, with demand low in the affordable western suburbs and hot in inner-city areas.
“The inner-city higher-price regions are doing markedly better than the outer western suburbs of Sydney, where clearance rates are really struggling to get above 50 per cent,” Dr Wilson said.
“It is now a buyers market in those areas.”